One Nation Under God, by Christian writer Janet Ruth, is an in-depth look at this and other legal challenges to the role of Christian symbols and expressions in American public life.  In a short history of the writing and legal interpretation of the Establishment Clause, attention is given to both sides of the long-standing controversy over the intent of the amendment and the struggle to find a balance between the separation of church and state and the religious beliefs of the nation.  A history of the Pledge is also given, along with the two previous cases where the Supreme Court has ruled on its constitutionality. 

 

The First Amendment prevents the government from “endorsing” religious beliefs but allows actions with a “secular” goal, so the government’s argument in favor of the Pledge is that the words have no real religious meaning except to remind us of the belief of the founding fathers that religion is good for the people and the nation.  This “ceremonial deism” is a compromise between the demands of true Christianity and the emptiness of atheism.  It is also false worship and offensive to God.

 

Many Christians want to keep religion in our public life for the wrong reasons, such as fear of losing our freedoms, national pride, and our own comfort.  In fact, we may want to be a Christian nation more for our sake than for God’s.  Comparing God’s covenant with the nation of Israel and his New Testament covenant with the people of his Church, it is clear that God has not called the United States to be a Christian nation.  While Israel was called to obey God’s law in return for his promise to keep them safe in their homeland, the calling of the Church is to spread the gospel of Christ to all the world, having been given the promise of eternal life in God’s kingdom.  But like the Children of Israel who wanted to return to the safety of Egypt, many Christians want to return to the comfort of simple rules and the promise of material blessings in return for obedience.

 

It is time for Christians to change their focus from preserving morality in America to spreading the gospel of Christ in America and throughout the world.  For it is not “through acts of righteousness” that we are saved, or through moral laws and empty religious ceremonies.